Southend teachers are being bitten, punched, kicked and spat at by students.

Violence between students and teachers is increasing with one teacher assaulted every seven minutes, claims the National Association of Schoolmasters and the Union of Women Teachers.

A survey, conducted across 2,500 schools in the east of England, uncovered 287 incidents in just 30 days last year. It found students were involved in verbal, physical and racial abuse against teachers.

Chris Lines, national executive member for Essex and the South East, said 39 schools in Southend had reported attacks on teachers - 24 of which were verbal and 15 physical - including teachers being bitten, punched, kicked and spat at.

One of the assaults happened in a primary school. He said: "There has been a big number of responses from Southend from a comparatively small unitary authority.

"Our perception is violence is increasing. And for every response reported, you can bet there's an incident that isn't. We are concerned about the situation."

Gordon Clubb, headteacher at Thorpe Bay School, in Southchurch Boulevard, Thorpe Bay, said: "The news does surprise me. Schools are merely a reflection of society."

But Rachel Plunkett, headteacher at Doggetts Primary School, in The Boulevard, Rochford, said: "It doesn't surprise me. There's been aggression at Doggetts, but it seems to have been sorted in the past couple of years."

Published Monday, April 7, 2003

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